We confess that ‘being thankful’ has not come as naturally this year as in years past. It seems awkward at best, forced at worst.

As a corporation, we have been pushed to our limits with the challenges that COVID has foisted upon us. Both illness and death have personally touched our employees. Business relationships, normally indicated by care and mutual respect, have been stressed. Customers have had to endure backorders and shipping challenges at unprecedented levels, forcing both sides of the sales process into levels of patience that push relational boundaries.

We know that the above description applies to businesses and individuals throughout North America. On top of that has been the divisive impact of politicizing race, COVID, and a sexual revolution, coupled with the subsequent blame game and conspiracy theories. It has left many of us feeling isolated and exhausted.

If you are like us, it seems to be easier to sit in our anxiety and irritability and grumble rather than explore an attitude of gratitude… a state of being grateful.

“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessing.” William Arthur Ward

Common wisdom associates gratitude with personal benefits received, often not sought after or earned, due to the kind intentions of another. We wonder if it goes deeper than that. We wonder whether our ability to be truly grateful is linked to ‘whom’ we are grateful toward.

Thanking ‘Mother Nature’ for a beautiful day seems rather benign in attending to the concept of gratitude. Mother Nature is an impersonal non-creative concept incapable of ‘giving’ in the truest of senses. Thanking myself is counterproductive and assumes that I ultimately (in a moral sense) did act in my own best interest. Thanking another for their generosity may have validity. Still, if the generosity is tainted with self-serving motives, the subsequent gratitude fulfills the givers’ motives. It is no wonder that being thankful does not seem to come naturally… even though clearly, there are benefits to be gained from an attitude of gratitude. Without question, being grateful, no matter the circumstance, builds, and strengthens relationships, can be a source of motivation, and can help overcome adversity.

As we come to the end of 2020, the staff and management of Home Porch & Patio Kits Inc. have renewed our commitment to the discipline of thankfulness. It is a habit made possible first by knowing & understanding the grace we have received in Christ Jesus; the call to let the peace of Christ rule, not the inevitable circumstances of a broken and fallen world. Second, by our own efforts and intentionality, doing all we do, in Christ’s name, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. (Colossians 3:15-17)

Grace is the foundation for living in true gratitude. Grace is the ultimate gift, whose personal benefit can never be earned or even sought, yet remains available to all who would receive it. It is given by Him whose motive is pure and whose creative power is evident for all to see.

We are grateful to God, this Thanksgiving, for our opportunities, past and present, to serve people with this business. We are grateful to God for the suppliers we work with; the people who work so hard amidst a myriad of challenges, both professionally & personally. We are grateful to God for their example of courage and generosity in the face of adversity. We are grateful to God for our families. We are grateful to God for the person & work of Jesus Christ.